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GAETANO DONIZETTI

Lucia Di Lammermoor

ACT I (The Only Act of Part One)

Scene 1

1

No.1 Prelude and Introductory Chorus 'Search through the neighbouring shores...'

4:26

2

No.2 Scene and Cavatina 'You are distrubed...'

2:50

3

Larghetto 'You have aroused...'

2:05

4

Coro di Cassiatori 'Once and for all...'

2:05

5

Allegro moderato 'Pity for her vainly...'

3:32

Scene 2

6

No.3 Scene and Cavatina 'He still has not come!'

4:06

7

Larghetto 'The deep, dark night brooded...'

4:05

8

Moderato 'When carried away...'

4:58

9

No.4 Scene and Duet - Finale I 'He is coming!'

2:30

10

Larghetto 'On the tomb...'

5:16

11

Moderato assai 'My ardent sighs...'

4:30

ACT II (Act One of the Second Part)

Scene 1

12

No.5 Scene 'Lucy will come to you soon...'

2:55

13

No.6 Duet 'Come here, Lucy...'

5:25

14

Larghetto 'I suffered in tears...'

4:42

15

Vivace 'If you can betray me...'

2:56

16

No.7 Scene and Aria 'Well?'

4:02

17

Moderato 'You are offering yourself...'

3:32

Scene 2

18

No.8 Finale II - Chorus and Cavatina 'Through you there is great rejoicing...'

1:20

19

Meno mosso 'Your star almost vanished...'

2:05

20

No.9 Scene and Quartet of Finale II 'Where is Lucy?'

3:48

21

Larghetto 'Who restrains me...'

3:31

22

No.10 Seguita e Stretta del Finale II 'Be gone, villain...'

1:11

23

Moderato 'Rash fellow!'

4:24

ACT III (Act Two of the Second Part)

Scene 1

24

No.11 Storm, Scene and Duet 'The night is as horrid...'

2:06

25

Andante 'Ashton!'

7:45

Scene 2

26

No.12 Chorus 'Raise a shout...'

1:32

27

No.13 Grand Scene with Chorus 'Stop, ah, stop your merrymaking!'

4:40

28

No.14 Scene and Aria 'Oh, good heavens!'

2:48

29

Allegretto 'Alas!'

11:23

30

Moderato 'Sprinkle my earthly...'

4:14

31

Scene 'Carry her to another place...'

1:39

Scene 3

32

No.15 Aria Finale 'Tombs of my forebears...'

10:19

33

Moderato 'You that have spread...'

4:25

The Mariinsky label’s opera recordings have garnered acclaim and awards from around the world, most recently for Valery Gergiev’s recording of Parsifal released in 2010. For the label’s fifth opera, Gergiev conducts Donizetti’s masterpiece with a magnificent cast led by Natalie Dessay and Piotr Beczala.

Donizetti’s tragic opera in three acts depicts a family feud set in the Lammermuir hills of Scotland. The opera was premiered on 26 September 1835 at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, with the coloratura soprano Fanny Tacchinardi Persiani, and a revised version in French followed suit in 1839. Inspired by Sir Walter Scott’s novel The Bride of Lammermoor, the central character of Lucia Ashton (Dessay) is in love with Edgardo di Ravenswood, her brother Enrico’s sworn enemy. With his fortune waning, Lord Enrico plots to force Lucia to marry Lord Artuo Bucklaw, in order to guarantee his continued power. Torn between her family and true love, Lucia submits to her brother’s desires but in turn loses her mind. Lucia’s delicate disposition is tested and results in the famous ’mad scene’ where Lucia kills her new bridegroom Arturo.

Natalie Dessay is one of the world’s most sought-after sopranos and an admired interpreter of lyric heroines. She is particularly renowned for her interpretation of the role of Lucia, which she has performed at the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House and the Mariinsky Theatre.

Piotr Beczala is rapidly establishing a reputation as one of today’s leading lyric tenors. He has recently sung Edgardo with the Metropoltan Opera in New York and on tour in Japan.

"...easily worth the price of admission for Natalie Dessay’s rendering of the title role. [Dessay] owns a flexible, controlled soprano that seems to have limitless expressive possibilities. Her high notes are thrilling ... Gergiev leads stylishly and energetically. The reproduction of the exotic glass harmonica during Lucia’s famous ’mad scene’ is exquisite"

Absolute Sound (USA)

"Natalie Dessay ... doesn’t create drama with the weight or the timbre of her voice, but rather with a superior creative power. The maidenly light colour, the fast vibrato and the eminent focus of her voice build the basis of an interpretation which exposes the fragile and psychologically precarious Lucia from the begining ..."

Das Opernglas (Germany)

"...this remarkable music-making from the orchestra, coupled with some impassioned singing from the star principals and the chorus ... The highlight of this recording is Dessay’s mad scene, including the original chilling glass harmonica accompaniment, played by Sascha Reckert ..."

Limelight magazine

"Breath-taking Gergiev! We were slightly waiting to ’catch him out’ with this opera which in many ways is not familiary territory for him. But which conductor has given Donizetti’s orchestra such colours and such life? ...One feels the conductor’s hand in the energy that animates the soloists, and even more so in the coherent strength of the ensembles (the chorus is marvellous) ... the Russian ’cast’ is excellent."

Classica (France)

"Dessay’s performances have always offered ample rewards on CD ... In the Mariinsky recording we can once again relish Dessay’s extraordinary command of Staccatos, her flexibility and that uniquely pearly timbre"

Roger Pines - International Record Review - September 2011

Disc of the Week

"...Here is a Lucia to match Callas or Sutherland. Natalie Dessay’s light soprano gives a vivid impression of Lucia’s vulnerable personality. The Mad Scene is enthralling. Piotr Beczala is a gloriously virile Edgardo, and the Italian style of the Russian cast more than acceptable. With Valery Gergiev a suprisingly sensitive conductor, this is a top-rank recording of a marvellous opera."

Daily Telegraph - 6 August 2011

Performance **** Recording *****

"...The main attraction is natalie Dessay as Lucia, a part she can despatch without strain ... as post-maria Callas Lucias go, she is one of the best’.